Physicians for Human Rights(PHR) welcomes a Turkish court’s acquittal today of Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, a prominent human rights defender, anti-torture advocate, and the president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, who in 2016 was arrested, briefly imprisoned, and charged with disseminating “terrorist propaganda” after taking part in a solidarity campaign with a newspaper critical of Turkey’s government.

“Dr. Fincancı, a world-renowned forensic
medical expert, should never have been charged in the first place,” said Donna McKay, PHR’s executive director.
“She has dedicated much of her life to fighting torture and ill-treatment in
Turkey and around the world, and was targeted for peacefully defending human
rights and practicing the right to free expression. The Turkish court’s
acquittal of Dr. Fincancı today is an important step forward in a country that
has sought to silence those who stand up for human rights in opposition to the
government. This progress gives us hope for the respect for freedom of
expression and speech in Turkey going forward.”

Separately, in December 2018, Fincancı was sentenced to
two years and six months in prison for signing a peace petition in 2016
organized by a group of Turkish academics. She was one of the signatories
of “We will not be party to this crime,” signed by a group who call themselves
“Academics for Peace.” The petition spoke out against violence between the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and Turkish security forces in the southeast
of Turkey, and called for a peaceful solution. It also criticized the
disproportionately heavy hand of Turkish security forces, which resulted in the
bombardment of predominantly Kurdish cities as well as the enforcement of
curfews. Appeals in
this case are ongoing.

McKay added, “While Dr. Fincancı’s
acquittal is welcome news, she and many other physicians remain under threat of
conviction and imprisonment simply for exercising their right to freedom of
expression. PHR calls on the Turkish government to drop these outstanding charges
and cease persecution of the medical profession.”

PHR honored Dr. Fincancı
at its 2017 gala in New York City for her leadership in fighting torture
and impunity for human rights violations in Turkey and around the world.

After she was sentenced in 2018 in the
Academics for Peace case, PHR sent a letter to
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressing grave concern for the Turkish
court’s punishment of Fincancı and thousands of other peaceful protesters “for
speaking out in favor of fairness, justice, and respect for human rights.”